GOING FAR AWAY TO COME BACK

Judging by her “tough” appearance, few people would know that she is the kind of girl who has a youthful soul, is thirsty for adventure but also very fragile.

She gave up her exciting single life pretty quickly and now she has a two year – old baby. She loves travelling but she hasn’t had a chance to go on any of her company related trips for the past 2 years. Thus, this trip is very meaningful to her. It would be an exaggeration to say that it is a sweet escape but it would open a new door to her beautiful old days and freedom.

She was given a ticket by Mama Que just on the day before the trip. The trip to the South became even more exciting when the company organized a small competition for staff to work in pairs, for a photo contest to prepare for the Gala night – ‘Heavenly Couples”.

With the pairing it was destined to have the odd couples, the sibling like connection and finally the couple who ‘despise’ one another.

After confirmation of her partner, she was coupled up with the hot man and they were known as – CHY CHANH CHO & PHUONG PHE PHA. The trip hadn’t had started yet, she already felt a lot of pressure. The excitement before the long trip made her restless the night before. She couldn’t think much about the amazing destinations to come. Her mind couldn’t help think about the carefree moments, fun times, relaxing atmosphere, selfie poses and to enjoy every moment. She couldn’t close her eyes as she was afraid that everything would pass away like a dream when she woke up.

The early flight at 5.30am to Sai Gon felt as fast like a breeze because everybody fell asleep during the flight. We travelled from Sai Gon to Tien Giang to start the journey of exploring the romantic Tien river. After 3 hours enjoying traffic congestion and honking we finally reached  Tan Long Wharf to explore the floating villages and 4 well-known islets Long (Dragon) - Lan (Unicorn) - Qui (Turtle) - Phung (Phoenix)

This moment of her sitting in the canoe brought back memories of her childhood as did the soothing wind on her face. This setting reminded her of 2 movies that her generation had grown up watching -  Dat Phuong Nam (Southern Land) and Nguoi dep Tay Do (Western Capital Beauty).

The canoe took us to the Lan islet also known as Thoi Son – the biggest islet among the four. The numerous canals made it feel like Venice in the middle of Mekong. The local Thoi Son people are easy- going, and sweet. There are a lot of activities for tourists such as visiting farms, gardens and beehives, enjoying traditional music and tasting local specialty tea.

The most special experience in Lan islet is rowing through the green coconut palm lined dense canals. Next visiting Quy islet on the other side of the river in Ben Tre province, she and her friends were overwhelmed by the variety of coconut products available - specialties including coconut candy, oil, cream, cake, lipstick, etc. There is a common saying that "Visiting Ben Tre you can hear the story of coconut trees". Sitting on Quy islet, listening to coconut palms rustling in the wind and eating "special" delicacies such as grilled chicken, local fried fish and giant river prawns was an unforgettable memory for her and her friends.

Finally leaving My Tho city in the evening, the whole team travelled to the brightly lit Can Tho city. Rushing to check-in and take a quick break, the group then traveled to Ninh Kieu wharf to enjoy a meal on the luxury yacht. After more than an hour on the river, listening to Don Ca Tai Tu over and over, she couldn’t help eventually humming the song

“I heard that Ca Mau is far away, at the end of Vietnam map

Concerned about the distance not coming, coming back to say some words ... "

The first day gradually came to an end and she felt a bit "overwhelmed" when realizing she was 1877 km away from the beloved capital - Hanoi.

The next morning, the group checked out to move to Bac Lieu where there are 2 famous attractions: the Fan field and the Bac Lieu Prince's house. This was the most tiring part of her journey as it included close to 400km of travel in a day: starting from breakfast with noodles in Can Tho, lunch with crab soup in Bac Lieu and ending with a fish sauce hotpot dinner in Rach Gia. The program on the 2nd day definitely made them feel tired, however the evenings Gala was still ahead. The "Heavenly Couples" challenge winner was waiting to be revealed at 9pm. At the Gala, during 2 hours of pitfalls and laughter, where the couples were made to dance and asked to answer numerous questions by organizers of the evening, finally, the winners when revealed! The youngest couple Duong Deo Dai - Quynh Quan Quat were honored the ‘Champions of the Season’.

The vessel to Nam Du Island departed at 8 a.m, which meant that she had to get up at 6 a.m to check out. After more than 2 hours of "struggling" with seasickness on the legendary Super Dong ship, the whole group finally reached the Nam Du Islands. The 500m trek from the pier to the "center" suddenly curbed everyone’s sicknesses thanks to the crowded harbor full of the aroma of "salty" fish, fish sauce and pothole ridden road.

The worst part was ending up at the mosquito filled hostel and realizing there was no hot water. Although, they had been warned by the Muse Huong Le about the trek to the unspoiled island, that it had not been exploited for tourism. However, all of us - young people who aren’t born with a silver spoon feeding us adapted quickly to the “adversity". The whole team was over the moon to discover Nam Du Islands with sparkling turquoise water like Borocay, extremely clean and clear white sandy beaches, the experience of snorkeling the beautiful coral was breathtaking. At this moment, she believed that even if several years were to pass, she would never forget this experience.

Getting over the fear of being seasick and carsick, she and her gals were at a hotel in Can Tho at 10 pm on the fourth day of the journey. This was prepared for the last day to explore the city. Because of the tight schedule, the gang couldn’t visit a karaoke bar so they sang for each other on the bus back. It was filled with laughter and happiness. There were so many unforgettable performances by ‘Talented Manager’ Tan, ‘engineer’ Trai, ‘Cheo’ opera by Thai Binh guy Phuong Nguyen. The entertainment continued as the group were exploring fruit gardens, and was packing to go home in a hurry or was waiting in vain for “Delay” Airline to call our name to get onboard. Sometimes, when busy and happy at the same time you can seemingly get rid of complicated problems.

She arrived home at 6pm during the rush hour when almost everybody was leaving work. She was warmly welcomed by a cute little girl and another family member who was a bit down because of a series of sleepless nights as the little girl had a fever. She smiled calmly, and felt renewed after the trip. The memories would surely stick with her long before going back to her mundane life.

- Dinh Ha Chi -

 

Other news

 KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - BEAUTY OF LEARNING AT VVT
Detail

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER - BEAUTY OF LEARNING AT VVT

On the afternoon of May 24, 2023, VVT continued to cooperate with iERP Service Joint Stock Company to successfully deploy the "Project Management" ...
 SUMMER COLORS VVT
Detail

SUMMER COLORS VVT

In 3 days from May 18 to May 20, 2023, our VVT family had a meaningful trip together in beautiful Ha Long. Enjoy the moment with us through this Recap ...
"BREAK IN" PROJECT MANAGEMENT CLASS AT VVT!
Detail

"BREAK IN" PROJECT MANAGEMENT CLASS AT VVT!

On the afternoon of May 10, 2023, the first session of the Project Management training course was successfully implemented at VVT office. The lively ...
VVT
Detail

VVT'S OPEN CUP - FOOTBALL OF FRIENDSHIP

On the morning of April 15, 2023, at My Dinh 2 Stadium, the VVT ​​2 team was crowned the champion of VVT's Open Cup with artistic slick balls. Even ...